Free security products out there for the asking

Security software developers have a long history of making their work available for free. Here's a small taste, keeping in mind a few caveats, like uncertain support or limited capabilities relative to paid products.

One of the biggest "free" segments in security is antivirus freeware, such as that from Avira and Avast, as well as Microsoft Security Essentials, which got rave reviews in the June issue of Consumer Reports this year. However, the popular magazine also advised that "pay suites" for desktop malware are more full-featured and easier to use.

In addition, security vendors that want to get your attention are known to come up with lots of tools like free assessment scans of one sort of another, though the end goal of course is usually to sell you a subscription service.

Among the vendors that regularly announce free scans are Qualys for vulnerability assessment, eEye, Sophos, Symantec and McAfee. Microsoft has long offered its free Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer, mainly for small to midsize businesses to check Windows for conformance with Microsoft security recommendations. However, it appears that Microsoft won't offer the tool for Windows 8.

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